The Hockey Life - A Patrick Kane Fanfic

Part Nine - Call Me Maybe

PART NINE: CALL ME MAYBE

The next day was Christmas Eve. I was so glad that it was almost Christmas already. It had always been my favorite holiday ever since I was little, for obvious reasons, but also because it was the only holiday that my whole entire family got to spend together. I had cousins and aunts and uncles that lived in other states that I never saw and I always looked forward to seeing them. Other than that, I just loved the lights, decorations, music, movies, scents and pretty much everything else about it. As I thought about how enjoyable the holiday would be, I was relieved to remember that it was basically a free day at the United Center.

Brad had decided to reward us interns for the dedication we had put into his program so far, so we got to have a Christmas Eve Party. There would be food and drinks, and of course, skating. The team was invited to hang out after practice and party with us, but I expected many of them to be busy with family. Oh well, at least Dylan and I would had each other.

Tess gave me an odd look in the morning as I tore through my closet. I got to the end of my clothes and I found what I had been looking for - my ugly Christmas sweater. The Christmas Eve party had an ugly sweater theme, and I was sure that if there was a contest for the most grotesque one, mine would win. It contained a giant Christmas tree with ornaments, garland, and lights that took batteries and could actually light up when turned on. Of course it was red, green, and white, too.

“You’re wearing one of the twins?” Tess asked, examining the sweater. We had matching ones that we had found for a party with a similar theme a couple years previously.

“Of course!” I answered. “Hey, why are you even up right now? Isn’t it a little early for you?” I wondered.

“I can’t sleep in on Christmas Eve,” she revealed.

“Isn’t it supposed to be the night of Christmas Eve when you can’t sleep?” I questioned her.

“It’s both for me. I guess I’m just more of a kid at heart than the average person,” she answered. I shook my head at her in shame and headed to the bathroom to get ready. By the time I headed out the door I was completely festive. I wore the twin sweater with some basic skinny jeans and Uggs. I had Christmas light earrings in that lit up just like my sweater, too. I made sure my hockey gear was in my car when I got inside it, and I left.

When I arrived at the UC, I was greeted with ugliness. All of the interns had already arrived, probably because they had left early after seeing how bad the roads were. I, on the other hand, hadn’t accounted for the large amount of snow that had fallen on the streets of Chicago.

“Damn, you look ugly!” Dylan said as I came up to the cluster of people in Christmas attire.

“Thanks, you do too!” I laughed. Everyone had done a pretty good job of dressing for the theme except for Puck Bunny. She had the least obnoxious outfit on, and she had found a way to turn ugly into sexy, but not in a good way.

“Where’s your ugly sweater?” one intern asked her, flaunting his.

“I didn’t have an ugly one. Who wants to purposefully look bad anyways?” she replied, her bad attitude in full force.

“Anyone with a sense of humor,” the guy said, taken aback by her like I had been on the first day.

“Or a soul,” Dylan mumbled, too quietly for anyone but me to hear.

“Low blow,” I commented.

“Well, I’m sure everyone was thinking the same thing. Especially you,” he said, nudging me. I didn’t even try to hide my hate for that girl anymore. Dylan just laughed at my comments and eye rolls. He was used to it.